A quick chat with Dikembe
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Gainesville ain’t the midwest, and yet Dikembe have consistently been one of the best DIY midwest bands in the entire scene. Paul sits down with Randy Reddell to discuss their new EP King, how to rehearse over approximately 2,000 miles, and the best parts of touring the UK.
Congratulations on the new EP, King. It must feel great to be able to release something and actually tour it after your last record Muck got a bit screwed over by the pandemy?
yeah, that was a bummer, we had a lot of shit planned that year that got nixed, a few shows with Against Me!, a show at a Bernie Sanders rally, and a full European tour all down the drain! I think it made it so not as many people were able to connect with the album or really dive into it. We have a song on there, which I think just rips, called Leveled Again, that I wish more people would find. Anyway, unluckily for us, some of our King touring got cut short by me getting Covid for the like 10th time. But we have gotten to play a ton of shows and travel all over the world doing it with great bands, and that has been such a positive experience that really boosted our drive as a band.
The origins of the band started in Gainesville, Florida, but a few of you are now based further afield. How has that affected the writing process? And has it changed the dynamic of the band in any way?
We all used to live in Gainesville, and would get together to work on songs. I think it was mostly Steven bringing songs to the table at that point. Now David is the only one in Gainesville still, I live in Michigan, Steven and Jon in Orlando, and Scott in Jacksonville. I think the writing is a lot more collaborative now than in the earlier days of Dikembe as far as other people bringing ideas to the table. We all just share demos in the Discord chat, add parts here and there, and then I'll fly down to Florida and we'll spend a weekend working on the ideas. So I think somehow the distance has actually made it more collaborative?
One thing I have always loved about your band is the power of tension and release in your songs, this is really apparent in songs like 'Haymaker' from this EP. Is that something that you are conscious of while writing as a band?
Hmmm, I don't know if it's conscious, I guess so, a little bit anyway. We just like to have dynamics in our songs. I think if a song is just full blast the whole time, it can be punishing to the listener sometimes, or make the songs feel very samey. Those are just the types of songs that we like and that we're drawn to.
The opening track 'Truck' definitely sounds like it could be a phone voice memo. Is it? And did you ever attempt a studio version of it?
This was originally recorded as a demo on Steven's phone, but the recording you hear on the record is in fact a studio version lol. This is just how we wanted it to sound so that when 'Haymakers' comes in it really hits. We also had another demo version from like 2022 where we had a whole full band outro to the song, but in the end we decided to keep it stripped down and closer to the demo.
The artwork for the EP is amazing, who did it?
My old roommate, and great friend Josiah David Lloyd, he is an insanely talented artist and he has done all of our album art since Mediumship. We literally just tell him to do whatever he wants.
After canceling your last UK tour due to Covid, what was it like to be back last year?
It was sooo good, we love coming to the UK. We came in 2017 and toured with Other Half, who are just some of the funniest and nicest people in the world. Their friend Chris drove us on that tour, and he took us around again this time. I don't ever want to tour without Chris, we paid him to come over to the US after that tour just cause he's that good of a hang. He is also wildly talented, listen to Hello Pedro and Reno Dakota, and he's in like 100 other bands in Norwich. But he gets our vibe, and we were just on vacation, sightseeing, going on hikes, excursions. The shows were all incredible too, we met so many people who hadn't gotten to see us before, and ran into some old friends. We actually got offered to come back this year but sadly it's just really hard financially to do it. Hopefully next year, or maybe some massive band will ask us to come and make it financially possible.
What are some of your favourite and slightly less favourite things from your time in the UK?
Favorite things - I think everyone we interacted with was incredibly kind and hospitable, also everyone is just really funny and doesn't seem to take themselves too seriously. I also love history, and well, there are things that we got to see that are like a thousand years older than anything in our country. I love being in places like York, or at some old castles and villages, and just imagining myself living there 1,000 years ago. I'd probably be dead of dysentery or something by now, but I like the fantasy of it. The longest drive for a show there is also like 3-4 hours, which is about as short a drive as we get over here on tour, so that was really nice, we were never in a rush. Least favorite thing, your chip flavors, you really have to step it up, a lot of room for improvement there. But yeah, if we could afford it we would be back every year. If you're reading this and you like our band, tell your friends about us so we can come back.
I know you have a kind of open door policy for sick guitarists in the band, what is the current Dikembe line-up?
We have truly had some of the greatest and most creative guitar players in the game in Dikembe. Starting with the OG, Ryan Willems, who was the original guitarist along with Steven. Ryan had a baby and our friend Mike Jones filled in on some tours, true shredder. Then Ryan left the band and we rocked the 3 piece for a bit. Our friend Andy's band, You Blew It!, was breaking up and so he joined our band for a while until Pool Kids fully stole him away. Which then opened the door to Scott Carr, who played guitar in Steven and Ryan's old band, Wavelets, and also played bass in Prawn. Then Steven got tired of playing guitar and wanted to just sing, so my best friend from high school, Jon Garwacke joined the band. He played in bands like Yo Man, Go!, Fierce Brosnan, Slow Warm Death, and even a stint singing in Street Smart Cyclist.
So, current lineup -- Steven - vocals, David - drums, Randy - bass, Scott - guitar, Jon - guitar.
And can we expect any more new music in the near future? What’s 2026 looking like for the band?
We have probably like 10 solid demos so far, and another 5 or 6 half-done ideas we're working on. So, I don't want to jinx it, but hopefully a new LP in 2027? We're also about to start a Patreon, mostly because we hate social media but still want to share our creative and silly ideas with people who like our band. And some US tour dates and festivals we're working on. It's hard getting older, you start to want to do so many things and your time is limited. If you're a young person reading this, say yes to everything.
One of the things we are doing with this month's zine is focusing on DIY in the US. Can you recommend any current bands from the DIY scene that more people need to know about ?
Glazed, Combat, Oldsoul, Common Sage, Swiss Army Wife, Star 99, Woolbright, Tired Radio, The Caution Children, Signals Midwest, Ways Away are the first that jump out in my mind. I could easily list 100 more just in Florida.
Where can people in UK pick up physical versions of the EP?
Devil Dog Distro! They were kind of enough to open a little merch store for us, even though we are like small potatoes compared to the bands they work with. We really appreciate them working with us. Pick up merch from them so they don't regret it.
Can you also give us your top 5 Dikembe songs and a little bit about why you love them?
1. "That's How What Works" - Broad Shoulders
I love this song because it has what I think are the best Dikembe lyrics -
"I miss you like a metaphor, for your coat missing your bedroom floor, after eight weeks of winter, or something like that" It just really hits me, I don't know.